Cody Rhodes got his American Nightmare neck tattoo to make his own brand as visible as the logos he had worn for other people. He chose the neck after weighing tattoo placements associated with other high-profile figures—and was surprised when the finished design was much larger than the one he thought he had approved.
What the tattoo represents
The tattoo is Rhodes’s existing American Nightmare logo, not a new design he commissioned for his neck. In a March 1, 2020 Instagram post, quoted by Wrestling Inc. the next day, he explained the point plainly: “It was very simple, I wear a lot of brands…I wanted to make sure mine was one of them. And I wasn’t hiding it.” He thanked tattoo artist Craig Brock for bringing the logo to life.
Rhodes expanded on the motivation years later on 2 Bears 1 Cave. He said he was away from WWE and working to build his own identity, and had grown tired of wearing other people’s logos. The tattoo made the American Nightmare brand conspicuous rather than keeping it on his clothing or merchandise, as reported by SI Wrestling Staff on December 30, 2024.
Why he chose his neck
Rhodes described choosing the placement by ruling out other locations. He first considered his chest, then thought of Conor McGregor’s prominent chest tattoo. He also considered the arm, but associated it with The Rock’s Brahma Bull and Goldberg’s barbed-wire tattoo. The neck became the place to display his own logo without adopting one of those familiar placements, according to his account on 2 Bears 1 Cave.
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In a July 2023 fan Q&A, Rhodes referred to two people who inspired his thinking through their tattoos: one had a chest tattoo, and the other an iconic bull on his arm. He said he wanted to wear his own brand loudly and proudly without copying their style, as reported by Wrestling Inc. on July 30, 2023. Rhodes did not name the two people in that Q&A. His later account does name McGregor and The Rock when discussing placements he considered, but it does not confirm that every design influence was the same.
Why the tattoo was bigger than he expected
Rhodes said he had imagined a smaller mark that would peek above his shirt collar, particularly because he often wore suits. He recalled seeing a smaller version from the artist but not stopping to inspect the tattoo as it was being done. When he saw the finished work, he felt it was unexpectedly large.
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On IMPAULSIVE, Rhodes described the final tattoo as about twice the size of the drawing he remembered seeing. He was due to wrestle two days later; he recalled covering the tattoo with a scarf at a signing and said Jim Ross stared at it during an AEW production meeting. POST Wrestling’s February 1, 2023 transcription reproduces his account.
When the tattoo appeared
Rhodes unveiled the tattoo during his AEW period at Revolution 2020, according to WrestleZone’s July 30, 2023 retrospective. The contemporaneous Instagram explanation followed on March 1, 2020.
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Why fans call it “infamous”
“Infamous” reflects the tattoo’s reputation in wrestling coverage and fan conversation, not a description Rhodes used for it. Reactions were divided; for example, Wrestling Inc. reported that Brandi Rhodes said she did not like the tattoo. That response is separate from Cody Rhodes’s stated reason for getting it: making his own brand visible.
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